(Use the pointer to control the direction and speed of the image. Click on an object in the photograph to see more detail.)

The Pueblo of Nambe was populated in the 14th century by the Tewa people. Nambe means "people of the round earth" in the Tewa language. Spanish colonists arrived in the early 17th century. The first church, San Francisco de Nambe, began constuction in 1618. The mission was completely destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. Spanish soldiers and colonists returned in 1696 and re-established the mission. The original Sagrado Corazon de Jesus church was built in 1790. Many believed it to be among the most beautiful missionary churches in the United States. It was destroyed in a fire in 1945 but rebuilt in one year’s time with much of the work being done by the returning WWII veterans. The artwork reflects a style which became popular in the latter part of the 19th century and continued into much of the twentieth century. It is characterized by modern, more standardized, more lifelike representations of religious figures, most of which are not done by local artisans. Sagrado Corazon de Jesus Church is in the parish of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Valle de Pojoaque which was founded in 1959.